VietNamNet Bridge – HCM City will clear more than 800 slums located near Van Thanh trench in Binh Thanh District to clean up the area through which the first metro line will pass.

Illustrative image: HCM City will clear more than 800 slums located along Van Thanh trench in Binh Thanh district to improve the area through which the first metro line will pass. — Photo bizlive.vn

The municipal People's Committee recently approved a plan to prepare a 2km-long trench along the section from Dien Bien Phu Street to Nhieu Loc - Thi Nghe canal crossroads, to avoid the flood in the Van Thanh trench and to build new roads along the trench.

The Van Thanh trench, which belongs to the Nhieu Loc-Thi Nghe canal, plays an important role in the drainage of the district. However, over the last few years, its drainage has reduced considerably after being gradually misused by the local inhabitants.

It is also the place through which the first Ben Thanh-Suoi Tien metro line will pass. Work began on this metro line in August last year. Head of the HCM City Management Authority for Urban Railways Bui Xuan Cuong said the 20km-long first metro line is expected to be ready in the third quarter of 2017.

According to the city construction department's statistics, the city currently has 17,000 slums located along the canals.

The city's People's Committee asked the department to work with related units to relocate the slums as soon as possible.

In the next five years, the city plans to relocate 11,600 households living along the canals and to give compensation amounting to VND12,400 billion (US$56,400).

VNS